Car-dumper.



F. E. HULETT.

CAR BUMPER.

APPLICATION mgl) res. 26. new.

1235313, Patented NOVu26,1918.

2 SHEETSSHEET W w? 64 Vkmz? $44M F. E. HULETT.

CAR DUMPEB.

APPLI CATION men FEB. 26. 1911.

Patented NOV. 26, 1918;

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- Mam FRANK E. HULETT OF EAST CLEVELAND, OHIO.

CAR-BUMPER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 26, 1918.

Application filed February 26, 1917 Serial No. 151,013.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK E. HULETT, a citizen of the United States, residing at East Cleveland. in the county of Cuyahoga'and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Car-Dumpers, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The present invention relates to car dumpers of the type having a car receiving cradle which is designed to be turned, or first elevated and then turned, so as to turn the car over sidewise and cause the material therein to be discharged into a suitable receiving car or bin. The present invention relates particularly to certain improvements whereby a long car, or two or more shorter cars may be handled at one time, and the material discharged into a relatively short transfer car or bin without requiring that the car or cars and cradle be elevated to a considerable height above the receiving element.

In order to dump the contents of a long car, or two cars and to be able to get their contents into one much shortercar, or into a relatively short bin, it has heretofore been considered necessary that the cradle be ele vated to a considerable height in the tower of the dumper before being turned, and that there be, therefore, a considerable distance between the receiving receptacle and the pan of the car dumper in order that the material may be diverted sidewise by deflecting plates to a relatively narrow opening. At the angle at which material, such as is handled in car dumpers, will flow is seldom less than .45", it has been considered necessary heretofore, that the cars be elevated an equal distance in height, foot for foot, to the amount of the lateral deflection, or to the amount of concentration to the narrower receptacle. This results in excessive cost of construction, slowness of operation and excessive breakage in case fragile material such as coal is being handled.

The obj ect of the invention therefore, is to overcome these difliculties. More specifically considered, the invention aims to provide means whereby material can be discharged from a long car or two cars handled at the same time and caused to be received into a relatively short receptacle such as a transfer car, without elevating the car or cars any material distance above the receiving ele ment.

In carrying out my invention I provide between the car or cars from which the material is discharged and the relatively short receiving element such as a transfer car or bin, an intermediate receiving member which is hereafter referred to as a hopper, the latter having one or more transverse conveyers extending at least across a portion of the length of the hopper or intermediate member, said eonveyeror conveyers receiving the material as it is discharged from the car or cars above and conveying it laterally to a relative-small discharge opening through which the material is discharged into the receiving element or receptacle. In the preferred form of my invention, the middle portion of the hopper discharges direct-1y into the receiving element, and two conveyers in the form of belts, such as steel belts, extend inwardly from opposite ends of the hopper a suitable distance toward the center, which belts are so driven" as to carry the material laterally inward and discharge it into the receiving element.

My invention may be further briefly summarized as consisting in certain novel details of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts which will be described in the specification and set forth in the appended claims. 1

In the accompanying sheets of drawings wherein I have shown the preferred form of my invention, Figure 1 is an end view of a car dumper in which my invention is embodied and showing by full lines the cradle prior to the beginning of the turning or tilting operation, and by dotted lines the position of the cradle at the end of the turning movement which turns the car or cars sidewise ancl discharges the material therefrom; and Fig. 2 is a side view looking toward the right of. Fig. 1 and showing the cradle and two cars supported thereon in the dumping position, that is, in a position corresponding to the dotted line position of Fig. 1.

The car dumper per 86 or car handling part of the apparatus is on the whole, of standard and well known construction. It includes a suitable tower 10 which may be formed of structural material, as is usually the case, and it includes also a suitable cradle 11 which is designed to turn about an axis 12 from normal or car receiving position shown by full lines in Fig. 1 to full dumping position shown by dotted lines in the same figure. The cradle is provided with the usual laterally movable platen 1e having track rails on which the cars to be dumped are run, the cradle and platen being of sufficient length that either a single long car, or two shorter cars, such a shown at 13, may be placed thereon and dumped at the same time. Suitable mechanism is provided for operating the cradle and for holding the car onto the cradle while being turned and dumped. In this case the cradle is turned by cables 15 which extend around the lower part of the cradle and then extend upwardly to the upper part of the tower around suitable cradle operating drums 16. Preferably the cradle is counterweighted by a plurality of counterweights 17 which are attached to cables 18, extending about suitable sheaves at the upper part of the tower and then downwardly to the lower part of the cradle to which they are attached. The usual car clamps 19 are shown for holding the car or cars on the cradle during the turning or dumping operation, these clamps, as is customary, being connected to cables 20 which extend about suitable sheaves at the upper part of the tower, and then downwardly along the rear side where they will be attached to counterweight similar to, but generally smaller than the main cradle counterweights 17. As these features of a car dumper of this type are well known, it will be suflicient to state that one Or more cars are run onto the platen 1 1 of the cradle and then the cradle will be turned about the axis 12 from the full line position of Fig. 1 to the dotted line position so as to turn the cars over sidewise and dis charge or dump the material therefrom. lVhile being turned, the car or cars are held onto the cradles by the counterweighted clamps 19, and after the material is discharged from the car or cars the cradle is turned back to normal position.

To prevent lumps of the material rolling from the cars during the early part of the turning movement, and dropping a considerable distance into the hopper, hereinafter referred to, automatic doors 11 are hung on the outer end of the cradle, these doors remaining closed by gravity until the cradle is revolved to a certain angle when they open automatically. These automatic doors form no part of the present invention and need not be further described.

The car dumper constituting the subject matter of this invention is designed to receive and handle at one time, either two sixty-ton cars or a single one hundred and twenty-ton car. In order that two such large cars may be handled at one time, not only is the cradle made considerably longer than the cradle of any dumper heretofore constructed, but inasmuch as the two cars which are run onto the cradle at the same time may be of different widths, the platen 11 is parted or divided at the center, as indicated at 14* in Fig. 2. This forms in effect two separate platens, one for each car, and affords the necessary flexibility to allow each car to be properly positioned on the cradle during the dumping operation regardless of whether the cars are of the same or different widths. To permit this, the cars are preferably uncoupled when run onto the cradle, as indicated in Fig. 2.

Before passing to the main features of the invention it may be stated that while the cradle is in this case adapted to be turned only, and not elevated before being turned,

I do not desire to be confined solely to this type of cradle which swings or turns only, for it has utility also in a dumper wherein the cradle is elevated before being turned, as for example, in a dumper used for loading certain types of vessels such as ocean going vessels which require a very narrow pan in order that the latter may be lowered past the rigging into the hatches. In such case the pan may be equipped with the novel features hereinafter described.

The element or member which receives the material discharged from the car or cars is here shown as a transfer car 21, which, as will be apparent from Fig. 2 is considerably shorter than the cradle and the two cars which are supported thereon. Some other type of receiving element than the transfer car, such, for example, as a receiving bin may be employed, as will be readily understood. Between the cars from which the material is dumped and the receiving element I provide a hopper whose over all length is preferably somewhat greater than the over all length of the two cars placed as shown on the cradle and somewhat greater than the length of the cradle itself. For the purpose of causing all the material to be discharged into the transfer car 21 from the two cars which are longer than the transfer car, I provide in the hopper, preferably at the bottom thereof, either one or two conveyers which extend transversely across at least a portion of the length of the hopper and which convey laterally the material received thereon and discharge it into the receiving member 21. In the preferred construction, the middle portion of the hopper is entirely open at the bottom so that the material may be discharged from the car or cars 13. directly through the hopper into the receiving member 21, but at the bottom of the end portions of the hopper are arranged two conveyers 252, preferably in the form of endless belts driven by suitable motors 23 so as to convey the material discharged thereon. toward the central opening in the bottom of the hopper and into the receiving member 21. Preferably the belts of the two conveyers are formed of overlapping steel plates, but obviously other forms of conveyers may be employed; These horizontal conveyers thereforeaform in effect, in-" wardly travelingor moving fioors which bring the material which falls thereon from opposite endsrof the hopper horizontallyv 1n- 25 so that it may be inclined downwardly and inwardly, or when reversed, downwardlyand outwardly. Thus material dropping I through the open bottom portion of the hopper can be directed toward the center or toward the ends of the receiving member 21, and an equal distribution of the coal or other material being handled is obtained.

While I have shown only the preferred construction wherein two conveyers traveling in opposite directions carry the material discharged thereon toward the central open portion of the hopper, I do not wish to be confined to this construction, for under certain circumstances a single conveyer may be used to advantage.

It will be seen that with this construction, long cars, or two shorter cars can be dumped at one time into a relatively short receiving member without requiring that the cars be elevated in the tower as has been required heretofore. With this invention the cars can be dumped more rapidly, there is greater ease and smoothness of operation, and a simpler construction can be utilized than with the prior arrangements. Additionally there is a minimum breakage of coal or other fragile material being handled, especially as the discharge or open end of the car during the dumping operation is very close to the top of the hopper so that the fall of the material is quite small compared with that in prior constructions.

By the term hopper employed in this application, I mean any suitable intermediate receiving member through which the material is discharged as it passes from the car or cars being dumped to the receptacle or receiving element. For example, I intend to include by hopper what is generally termed the pan of a car dumper, which is in effect a hopper movably supported on the tower of the car dumper. When the invention is embodied in a. hopper in the form of the so-called pan, the conveyers may be arranged as here shown in the upper part of the pan, and will discharge into the discharge opening which may be the mouth of a discharge spout or chute of the pan.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In combination with a car dumper having a cradle'for 1 turning .one or more. cars sidewise so \as to dump the material therefrom, a hopper for receiving thetmaterial 'asit isdumped from+the CELI"?OI cars, said hopper being open at the bottom fora portion ofits length, and being closed at the bottom/fora portionof its length byna conveyer which is carried by and forms a part of the hopper-and moves the material which 1 7 falls thereon tothe open bottom'portifoniof the hoppeiysaid'open bottom portion and the portion closed by the conveyer being so a disposed with reference to the cradle that part of the material falls direct into theopen'portion and part onto the conveyer.

2. In combination with a car dumper having atower and a cradle for tilting one or more cars so as to discharge the material therefrom, a receiving hopper into which the material is discharged from the car or cars, said hopper being open at the bottom for a portion of its length and for a portionv of its length having a laterally movable transverse conveyer for conveying laterally to the open bottom portion the material discharged thereon, both the open bottom portion of the hopper and the conveyer being disposed opposite the length of the cradle so that part of the material falls direct into the open portion and part onto the conveyer.

3. In combination with a car dumper having means for turning or tilting a car so as to discharge the material therefrom, a receiving hopper into which the material is discharged from the car, said hopper having a bottom which is open for a portion of its length, and which is closed for a portion of its length by a laterally moving floor in the form of a conveyer, both the open bottom portion of the hopper and the conveyer being so disposed opposite the car turning or tilting means that part of the material falls direct into the open portion and part onto the conveyer.

4. In combination with a car dumper of the type having means for receiving and tilting a car to dump the material thereterial is discharged from the car and which is open at the bottom for a portion of its length, and a conveyer extending from one end of the hopper toward the other end and serving to convey to the open portion of the hopper the material which is received on said conveyer, both the open bottom portion of the hopper and the conveyer being so disposed opposite the car tilting means that part of the material falls direct into the open portion and part onto the conveyer.

5. In combination with a car dumper having means for receiving and tilting a loaded car, a receiving hopper into which the material is discharged from the car, said hopper having an open bottom portion at the center I from, a receiving hopper into which the mathereof, and having two conveyers extending transversely from opposite ends of the hopper toward the center so as to convey the material discharged thereon laterally inward to the central open bottom portion.

6. In combination with a car dumper hav ing means for receiving and tilting one or more loaded cars, a receiving hopper into which the material is directly discharged from the car or cars and having a bottom portion which is equal substantially in length to the length of the cradle, the middle portion of the hopper being open at the bottom thereof and said hopper having two conveyers extending across the lower portion thereof from opposite ends inwardly toward the open center, said conveyer serving to convey inwardly to the open bottom portion of the hopper the material which is discharged thereon.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature.

FRANK E. HULETT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

1 Washington, D. G. 

